


soft, elegant, golden

by andromedagalaxy



Series: Philkas College Verse [9]
Category: Eyewitness (US TV)
Genre: M/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-04-25
Updated: 2017-04-25
Packaged: 2018-10-23 18:46:21
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,746
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/10725063
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/andromedagalaxy/pseuds/andromedagalaxy
Summary: Lukas groans the whole way, but as soon as he steps onto the 86th floor and catches sight of the view he stops dead in his tracks.Philip smiles, watching his face change. “Come on, baby,” he says. “It’s so much better outside.”





	soft, elegant, golden

They stare up at the building and Philip slaps Lukas’s arm, grinning over at him when he jumps. “What do they say about catching flies, huh?” Philip asks, giggling when Lukas grabs at his hip.

“It just looks so strange staring straight up at it,” Lukas says, their shoulders brushing together. “Did you want to come this late because it won’t be as packed?”

“Yeah,” Philip says, reaching down and taking his hand, pushing through the front door. “Normally there’s a line out the front. We’ve got a good two hours until they close.”

“You think we’ll be up there for two hours?” Lukas asks, following him through the lobby and getting on the escalator behind him. 

“When I came I stayed up here for three hours,” Philip says, smiling down at him from the higher step. “It’s really, really cool and worth every penny.”

“Speaking of pennies, you gotta stop buying shit like this,” Lukas says, nudging him a little bit. “We didn’t want to get jobs while we’re in school but if you keep trying to be the fancy boyfriend taking me out to fancy places we’re gonna have to break that rule. Be cliché Starbucks baristas or something.”

“That burger place was not fancy,” Philip says, stepping off the escalator and pulling Lukas up with him. “Anyways, don’t start making frappuccinos just yet. Helen sent me the money for this.”

Lukas’s face lights up at that. “Really?”

“Yeah,” Philip says, glancing around and seeing that there’s only a short line winding around the kiosks. “She knows I’ve been wanting to take you up here, see how the city looks when you’re so high above it.”

Lukas presses up close behind him as they walk, his hands on Philip’s waist. “You’re such a little romantic,” he whispers into his ear.

Philip smiles, moving over to the kiosk to print out their tickets. “I’ve wanted to share this with you for a while,” he says, too genuine in that moment to come up with a retort. 

“I’m excited,” Lukas says, kissing his cheek. 

~

Philip watches Lukas’s eyes go bright when they’re in the elevator, watches him try to un-pop his ears around the 40th floor. 

“Whoa,” Lukas says, chuckling to himself.

Philip steps towards him, tugging on the labels on his jacket. “You look so good tonight,” he whispers, low enough so the other people in the elevator can’t hear him. “This jacket is really nice.”

“I need to get better cold clothes,” Lukas says. “It’s beginning to get unbearable.”

“We’ll go shopping tomorrow,” Philip says. 

“Let me buy things, please,” Lukas says, cocking an eyebrow at him.

“Okay,” Philip says, grinning. 

The elevator comes to a halt and everyone starts getting off, but Lukas gives Philip a quizzical look. “Why are we stopped on the 80th floor?” he asks. “I thought the observation deck was on the 86th floor.”

“There’s a bunch of facts and figures up here,” Philip says, tugging him off the elevator and watching as he looks up and around. “We can go straight to the elevator—”

“Okay,” Lukas says, excitement in his voice now. He starts rushing and now he’s the one pulling Philip along, and they pass by everything quick.

“Hey,” Philip says, laughing as he hurries along behind him. “Don’t you wanna see all the facts and diagrams about the Empire State Building?”

“You can tell me all of it!” Lukas says. “I’d much rather hear you say it anyway!” He turns the corner and abruptly stops in his tracks. “What is this line for?” he says, sounding horrified.

“The elevator,” Philip says, stopping beside him. “Up to the observation deck.”

Lukas groans. “Really? Why is the world made of waiting in lines?”

“Well,” Philip says, peering around the group of people. “We can go up the stairs, there’s no line, but—”

“Yes!” Lukas says, tugging on his hand and weaving around the crowd.

Philip remembers that he, his mom and her boyfriend took the stairs too. The guy was trying to be all impressive, taking them to the Empire State Building, and wound up crashing and burning on the stairs because he was so exhausted from trying to climb them. Mom only saw him a couple more times before he was gone for good, but he was one of the only ones who took Philip along when they’d do something expensive.

“Lukas—” Philip starts, because he wants to warn him, because they’re running and if they’re taking the stairs then they definitely shouldn’t be exerting themselves now.

“Come on, baby!” Lukas says.

“Okay!” Philip says, raising his eyebrows. “But don’t look out the windows yet! Don’t spoil it!” He briefly catches a glimpse of the sparkling city, but he knows the view from the observation deck is so much better.

“I’m not!” Lukas says, shielding his eyes as he keeps walking. “Heading for the stairs!”

~

Lukas is heaving, panting, barely managing to make each step before he gets to the landing above. “Oh my God,” he says, leaning against the wall and letting another couple pass them. “Oh my fuck.”

Philip is tired but he’s been pacing himself a little better because he remembers this so well. He puts his hand on Lukas’s shoulder and tries to stifle his laughter. 

“Don’t laugh at me,” Lukas breathes, bending over and bracing his hands on his knees. “I’m dying.”

“I told you it was—”

“You didn’t tell me they like…doubled the amount of stairs,” Lukas says, straightening up and leaning against the wall to look at him. He looks so cute and put-upon, and if there weren’t more people coming up the stairs Philip would grab his face and start making out with him right here, despite how out of breath they both are.

“They didn’t double them,” Philip says, smiling. “It’s six floors—”

“And eighteen sets of stairs!” Lukas nearly yells. “And counting!” He looks up, scoffing. 

“It’s twelve sets,” Philip says, leaning his head on Lukas’s chest and laughing blatantly at him. “We’re almost there. We have four more to go.”

“Oh my God,” Lukas groans. “No, I live here now. I’m sorry baby. You can come and visit. Bring me good food. Maybe come and cut my hair for me when it starts getting too long.”

Philip snorts, leaning back and looking at him. “We’re almost there. It’s worth it.”

“Kiss,” Lukas says, closing his eyes.

Philip takes his face in his hands and brings their mouths together. He darts his tongue out a little bit and lets it run along Lukas’s bottom lip before pulling back. “You ready now?”

Lukas groans, licking his lips. “I guess so,” he says. “But you might have to carry me. I’m close to collapse.”

“I can do that,” Philip says, clapping him on the back as they continue their climb.

~

Lukas groans the whole way, but as soon as he steps onto the 86th floor and catches sight of the view he stops dead in his tracks. 

Philip smiles, watching his face change. “Come on, baby,” he says. “It’s so much better outside.”

Philip feels like he’s drawn Lukas so far out of his shell that they’re always chattering at each other, that they’re constantly making comments and whispering retorts into each other’s ears. Lukas used to be strong and silent but now he hardly ever stops talking in Philip’s presence, always aware of what he wants to say and how Philip wants him to say it.

But now he’s walking in a cool, electrified silence, letting Philip tug him along around excited strangers and out onto the observation deck. Philip feels like he has something to protect here—two things, if he’s being honest with himself, two things that stitch him together and make him whole. This city and Lukas. He wants Lukas to see how much he loves this, why he loves it, why it makes him feel the way it makes him feel. Why it’s stuck with him from such a young age. And he imagines people on the ground below staring up at the building, marveling at its purple glow, and he thinks it’ll shine a little bit brighter to everyone who looks purely because Lukas is up here.

“Let’s find a good spot,” Philip says, glancing over his shoulder to catch the expression on Lukas’s face. Philip knows how Lukas looks when he’s trying to figure something out, knows how he looks when love is bleeding into his eyes and he’s trying to fight back the spark of sentiment. But this look is different—mixed between the two, with a touch of something new. 

Philip finds them a space on the south side, winding an arm around Lukas’s waist and pulling him close. “There’s the One World Trade Center,” he says, pointing. 

Lukas just stares, his eyes flashing around. He inches his hand onto the cement and out through the fencing, holding it out above open air. 

“You like it?” Philip asks, nudging him a little bit, trying not to latch onto his own anxiety.

Lukas keeps staring out at the lights, looking all around, his mouth hanging open a little bit. “It’s beautiful,” he whispers, his voice so low that Philip can hardly hear him over the different dialects and languages being spoken all around them, the children running and trying to jump up high enough to see. 

“You can see everything from up here,” Philip says, reaching through the fencing and taking Lukas’s hand, guiding it back and forth, like they can really reach out and touch the tips of the buildings, like they can grab the city’s light and pull it up eighty six stories for themselves. “It’s so much better at night.”

“It’s beautiful,” Lukas says again. “Let’s, uh—let’s take a picture of us with it in the background.”

“Okay,” Philip says, pulling their hands back and inching them a little bit away from the edge. “But I might look like I’m gonna puke because it freaks me out whenever people take their phones out up here. I'm not sticking my hand out, I'm worried for my watch.”

Lukas snorts, snapping out of his reverie and looking at him. His heart warms at how much Philip loves the watch. “I’m far enough from the edge that I won’t drop my phone,” Lukas says.

“God knows what could happen,” Philip says, shivering at the thought.

“It would literally have to be a ghost snatching my phone out of my hand and tossing it off the building,” Lukas says, laughing.

“Still makes me nervous,” Philip says, shaking his head at him. 

“Imagine how you’re gonna feel when I stick my phone out the fencing to get a good landscape photo,” Lukas says, wagging his eyebrows.

“God,” Philip says, shivers running up his spine. “I might die.”

Lukas snorts. “Just get close to me,” he says, and when he takes the picture he’s pressing a kiss to Philip’s forehead. It comes out dark so he takes a couple more, and in the end they wind up with about six good pictures out of thirty, two of which they’re kissing in, the city shining behind them.

“Let’s go to the other side,” Philip says, taking Lukas’s hand again once his phone is safely in his pocket. They move around to the north side, which doesn’t seem to be as occupied as the others are, and Philip hears Lukas gasp when he sees the chaotic brightness of Times Square.

“The observation deck is only open until two in the morning, but no matter how late it is, Times Square is always gonna be lit up like that,” Philip says.

Philip remembers hardly being able to see anything when he was here before. He only got a legitimate look when Mom picked him up and deposited a couple quarters in the viewing machine, and that lasted all but two minutes before it went dark and he had to get down. It was so packed that people kept knocking into him, and although the view was beautiful during the day, he likes it so much more like this. The vibrancy, the way the city moves when it’s supposed to be asleep. It feels like one of the most alive things Philip has ever seen, and being here with Lukas is making him feel dizzy. They stare out at it for a while, and Philip feels the calmest he’s felt in a long time. He leans into Lukas, feels him caressing his hip.

“You were five when you came here?” Lukas asks, not looking at Philip, still staring down in the direction of Times Square.

“Yeah,” Philip says. “Didn’t really get to see it as well as I’m seeing it now, but I remember every second of what I did get to see. It really stuck with me.” He sighs, glancing down at their feet. “I always, uh—hoped I’d get to come back here with someone, you know, someone I—”

“Someone you love,” Lukas provides for him, finally meeting his eyes.

Philip stops talking, looking at him for a moment. “I didn’t ever think I’d be able to,” he whispers. “Get here. Find that. Find someone like you. And you know…you know what I’m gonna say.”

“What are you gonna say?” Lukas asks, his mouth tugging up at the corners.

Philip laughs a little bit. It’s really windy up here and it ruffles his hair, but Lukas reaches out and brushes it out of his eyes. “That just—every day—and because of everything—I’m so fucking thankful for you, Lukas,” Philip says, and he can’t count the number of times that looking at Lukas, thinking of Lukas, touching Lukas has brought him to tears, but it’s happening again. 

“Philip,” Lukas says, looking out at the glimmering landscape. “This is—this is one of the most beautiful things I’ve ever seen,” he says. “And it’s, uh—way more than I could have expected—it’s energetic but soft, elegant, golden, everything New York is. I’ve been the happiest I’ve ever been living here and this is just—the perfect representation of how fucking amazing this city is.”

“Yeah,” Philip says, quiet, so happy that it’s affecting Lukas the way he’d hoped.

“You know what it reminds me of?” Lukas asks, leaning close to Philip.

“What?” Philip asks, looking at him.

“You,” Lukas says.

Philip is taken aback and he doesn’t say anything.

“This is one of the most beautiful things I’ve ever seen,” Lukas says. “Amazing, a goddamn wonder of the world, but—looking at it just makes me want to look at you.”

Philip snorts, ducking his head down. “Stop. There’s no way. I’m not anything.”

Lukas tips his chin up. “You know you’re everything to me,” he whispers, and Philip’s heart goes warm. “This is incredible. The feel of it, it’s just—it’s you. Shines like you.”

Philip feels like he’s gonna pass out, but he stares at Lukas to focus. “You’re making me blush,” he whispers, his breath catching in his throat. 

“Good,” Lukas says. “I like it when you blush.” He takes Philip’s face in his hands, tracking his thumbs across his cheekbones. “Thank you. Thank you for bringing me here.”

“You really like it?” Philip asks, meeting his eyes. 

“I love it,” Lukas whispers. “I love you.”

“I love you too,” Philip whispers, and when he sees Lukas leaning in he closes his eyes, pressing firm into the kiss when Lukas brings their mouths together. They don’t care that anyone else is around and Lukas pulls him closer, deepening the kiss before it breaks a few moments later. 

“Can we come back here every weekend?” Lukas asks, glancing out at the view but keeping their foreheads together.

“That might be expensive.”

“Don’t they have like, a pass or something?”

Philip laughs, arching into him. “No. Just day by day.”

“Well, I wanna go to the roof of every building in the city now,” Lukas says, brushing their noses together. “So add that to the adventure list.”

“That’ll take us more than a couple years to accomplish,” Philip says, the hair standing up on his arms as Lukas draws his hands up and down his back.

“We can take all the time we need,” Lukas says, and leans in to capture his mouth again. 

Philip thinks that this couldn’t have gone better. But with Lukas, nowadays, everything is perfect. He doesn’t know why he was ever worried in the first place.


End file.
